Reviews with content warning for Murder - Axiom's End

This is YA. That’s not a positive or negative judgement, just an observation. It wasn’t marketed as YA fiction as far as I recall but that is absolutely how it reads – a college-age protagonist who needs to learn a lesson or two about responsibility, an intermittently-relevant family, awkward romance, drama, angst, queer rep, etc. I enjoyed it but I can see I’m not the target audience.

Also,

I feel like a lot more could have been done with the fact that Ampersand’s knowledge of Earth culture was hundreds of years out of date. He could have spoken Middle English, for example. The point was that he thought humans were violent and backwards, owing to the fervent religious fundamentalism and purges he witnessed in the wake of the Black Death. But then that seems kind of unnecessary, because we’d already seen him horrified by humans eating meat – there was no need to invoke medieval atrocities when there are already aspects of modern life which he finds abhorrent.

This may seem nitpicky but it’s superfluous details like this that end up making the book at least a hundred pages longer than it needed to be. Thankfully, the quick pace prevented the story from feeling like a slog.

I’d recommend Axiom’s End to fans of Stephenie Meyer’s The Host. It has a similar vibe.

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bi_n_large's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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lastcomment314's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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ashlightgrayson's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I went into this book with no expectations. I know Lindsey Ellis as a Youtuber and have enjoyed her content in the past, but I am not an avid follower. I think the most enjoyment from this book is probably garnered if you go in without any expectations if you previously know about Lindsey Ellis. With that said, I think this book would make for an excellent screenplay and Ellis's prose makes it easy to visualize and follow what is occurring in the plot despite the fast pacing. The plot slows down a bit in the middle to give space for character development. There is a strong focus on government conspiracy and Cora reluctantly becoming involved with a government cover up as she becomes an alien translator. I appreciated that the characters are written with realistic reactions to aliens landing on Earth. The government presence within the plot is palpable and Cora, the main character, is understandably suspicious of the intentions of the aliens together with all of the humans. Their cultures and perceptions of each other are fearful and untrusting. However, it becomes clear very quickly that the morals determined by each culture is incredibly different. This makes sense since they come from different worlds and makes for interesting speculation about character motives.

The main representative for the aliens is named Ampersand and his intentions are dubious at best. Despite this, he gains the trust of Cora over the course of the story and if it weren't for them being separate species it almost reads as romantic at times. This first book felt like an introduction to the aliens and their culture as well as what their perception of humanity is. A lot goes on, but it feels like a lot is left unanswered. Personally, there isn't anything in the story I fell in love with, but I am just interested enough to continue the series. This might be one of those book series where everything doesn't completely fall into place until you read the series as a whole. If you want to be blown away immediately, this might not be the book series for you. I don't mind a slower start in terms of world building, so I'm hoping that the next book builds on everything established in this first book. Overall, not a bad introduction into sci-fi if it's not a genre you read often.

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bookgirl's review

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I liked it! Riveted the whole way through. Great worldbuilding. Very difficult to imagine the aliens. Not sure if I’m ready to read a sequel.

I really liked the existential questions that came up between the species. Loved the well fleshed out power dynamics and the way humans were described as pests fleeing the scene.

And I liked the constant questioning of who was lying and why. And I liked the tension between the main characters. I liked it A LOT. BUT

the ending was really abrupt???? tho?? right?? I’m super thrown off by the ending. also how are these kids ever gonna SMASH

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orlagal's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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